Leaked images might show the iPhone 8's wireless charging setup
This year's upcoming iPhone 8 product line is widely expected to be Apple's first generation of smartphones to feature wireless charging capabilities, finally freeing up iOS users from their Lightning cords — and we might just have gotten a good look at what the accessories that will provide that power might look like.
New images that allegedly show off some of Apple's charging pad's internal components popped up online, giving us a peek what could possibly be coming later this year when the company is expected to unveil three new glass-backed phones — the premium iPhone 8, the iPhone 7S, and 7S Plus — that offer inductive charging using the Qi standard. That means that the phones will only charge when they're actually touching the surface of a specialized charging pad.
The photos appeared on Chinese social media site Weibo, where they were spotted by Apple Insider. The publication's report pointed out a major flaw in the original poster's assertion that these are internal components, since the look to be too large to fit inside an iPhone: We might be looking instead at the charging pad itself.
The charging pads in the images are clearly unfinished, and not what we'd expect to see from the famously design-obsessed Apple. Still, if the photos are genuine, they give us a glimpse of a potential shape and size of the device.
The charging pad pics follow another set of leaked images that are thought to show the internal charging coil to be used for the new inductive power functionality, which do appear to have the potential to actually fit inside of an iPhone.
The new iPhone's won't totally abandon wires, however; there are also rumors that Apple will introduce brand new fast charging capabilities as well, using USB-C Power Delivery chips for Lightning-USB-C functionality.
None of these new features can be confirmed, however, until Apple sets the record straight when it unveils the devices. We're hoping that will go down in a keynote event next month, but even that hasn't been announced as of yet.
Brett Williams is a Tech Reporter at Mashable. He writes about tech news, trends and other tangentially related topics with a particular interest in wearables and exercise tech. Prior to Mashable, he wrote for Inked Magazine and Thrillist. Brett's work has also appeared on Fusion and AskMen, to name a few. You can follow Brett on Twitter @bdwilliams910.
